

mE TROPfCAt AGRlCytTURlS^, 



y^s 



liroposutJ is tliat the native cultivator should sell liis 

 groeu loaf at the factories of the neii;hbouriu^ planters. 

 1 le would thus be entirely at the mercy of the buyer, 

 wlio, it is but rea.-oDiible to expect, would not care 

 to pay more (it would be probably less) per pound 

 than what it costs him ou his own, perhaps large, 

 highly-cultivated, and well-worked estate. Such a 

 price woidd be a miserable return to the native grower 

 for a crop which he has secured at the expense of. 

 fur him, much time, care and trouble, and would be 

 far inferior to that he could obtain by other easier 

 cultivations. Tea is not a profitable product to grow 

 in small quantity ; and 1 cannot recommend that its 

 cultivation in the villages should be encouraged, when 

 there are many other more suitable and more profit- 

 able product.s available. If, however, it were possible 

 for the villagers to viafce tea for their own use, its growth 

 by them might be recommended. 



Uut the direction in which one may hope to see tea- 

 cultivatiou beuetit the Sinhalese villager, is by induc- 

 ing him to work for wages on tbe estates. It is satis- 

 factory to know that this is already commencing in 

 some districts : if generally followed by tlie natives, 

 habits of industry will be formed, and the helpless in- 

 dolence and apathy, and consequent semi-starvation, 

 so often to be seen among the Sinhalese, be gradually 

 abolished in proportion. 



Cacao. — It is with regret that or.e observes a, de- 

 cided check in the cultivation of this plant, especi- 

 ally as this appears to be principally due to an 

 mireasonable dread oilltflopdtis.* For the ravages 

 of that insect do not seem to be on the increase 

 and thougli it has become somewhat more widely 

 diffused, it is not iii most localities a very serious 

 pest, such as would justify the abandonment of a 

 promising industry. There appears now to be a 

 general consensus of opinion among planters, that 

 this bug attacks principally cacao grown in the 

 open; and the planting of shade-trees is becoming 

 general. It may be expected that our export of 

 this product, considerably decreased in the past 

 year, will speedily recover; and if the Hdopelfis 

 panic lead to a more appreciative selection of land, 

 and more care in cultivation, it will not have been 

 entirely injurious. 



There has been some demand during the year for 

 seed of the Trhiidad varieties at Peradeniya, and the 

 belief is general that these lrtrger-gro«ing kinds are 

 hardier than the old Ceylon sort, fciince tbe date of 

 my last report, I have arrived at the conclusion that 

 the various "pale-fruited" kinds (see report for 

 \Si2) sparingly cultivated in Oeylon, as well as all the 

 strains ol thej^e new Trinidad plants, are to be re- 

 ferred to the ** Forastero " clan's of cacao. All of 

 them, whatever the colour of the pods — purple, dark- 

 red, pink, yellow, or pale-green — have .seeds (" beans") 

 which are lhitti:h iu form, and purple or violet iu- 

 teriiaily, and become very dark after curing. Our 

 old caca-.*, t-n the contrary, has the pud nearly always 

 red (occasionally bright-yelluw), ainl the seeds are 

 more rounded in shape, and always white or yellowish 

 on section when fresh, becoming red after prepar- 

 ation for the market. As to the proper name of this 

 latter sort, I may quote a portion of a letter which 

 I addresseil to the Ohsemor newspaper iu November 

 last, upon the subject; — 



"The fruiting of the selected and named varieties 

 sent from Trinidad in 1880 antl 1891 has since shown 

 that all these names (Uuiideamar, Cayenne, Vrrdi- 

 lico, kc.) are applied to forms of what is known there 

 as 'Foraftero,' cacao, and that none of the purplc- 

 Recde'l kinds are of the 'Criollo' or 'Caracas' variety. 

 It will therefore be well to use for the future the name 

 *Ft>rast*ro' for thr m here also. 



"This being the case, the question naturally arises 

 as to the ordinary red cacao of Ceylon. What variety 

 is it; and is there anything like it grown elsewhere? 

 For pome timi' I have been becominir ni'^re convi-iced 



* There is a fair wood-.;ut illustr.it. on of t le adult 

 //f/<7i(V/<<, from .JaV.i sfecinieii.i iu " I'b imieeutical 

 Journal "for December lilp. IHilf, and of r.ne earlier 

 sl»jiea ulso in " Girdiners' Chronicle ' 'ot January 

 16(h, Ittse, (p. Hi). • 



that it is thix, that is the 'OfWacas' or 'Priollo' cacao 

 and I niinht liave taken stronger ground on the mallei 

 than I did in my last report. I\Ir, Morris, Of Jamaica. 

 who has had good opportunity of investigating the 

 c.ioaos, both iu a wild and cultiv.ated slate, tells mi 

 that he knows of 'only one kind with the cotyledon.'^ 

 white or V hitish, and that is what is known as Car.-icas 

 cacao.' This, it is well-known, is now a rare kind iu 

 tlie AA'est Indict, and scarcely to be foiuiil on 'rriuiilaJ 

 estate.s, having died out, though formerly largely gvowu 

 hero. Evidently Oeylon obtained its plants before this 

 change had occurred. The high qualtity of 'Ceylon 

 cacao' is thus e.xplaiued, as well as its delicate tempera- 

 ment." 



We add a few further extracts : — 



'SccJiinin fdiile. — The " Cho-cho" or " Cliayotc"' has 

 been successfully established at Hakgala from Iho 

 single surviving seed of those sent from Jamaica iu 

 January. Mr. Nock reports: — "After being nursed 

 up iu the propagating house for a few weeks, the 

 plant was put out at the end of February iiito the 

 nursery. It commenced to bear in I\Iay, and has cou- 

 tinued to do so ever since, affording an excellent crop. 

 The vegetable (fruit) it produces is pear-shaped, and 

 the average weight is .about 2^ lb. The largest one 

 we have grown here yet weighed .SJ lb. The plant 

 being perennial, adds greatly to its value. As it is 

 the first time it has been grown in this country, it 

 may be useful if I state the best way of cultivating 

 it. It thrives best in a rich, deep, well-drained soil, 

 but may be made to grow anywhere by preparing 

 the site for each plant in the following manner : — 

 Make a hole 4 or b feet in diameter, and 18 inches 

 to 3 feet deep, according to the sub-soil. If the sub- 

 soil is good and free, you may go to the depth 

 of 3 feet ; but if it is clayey or likely to hold water, 

 IS inches will be quite deep enough. Place a layer of 

 rough stones at the bottom of the hole to a depth of IJ 

 to 9 inches for drainage, and over this a few inches 

 deep of small twigs or half-rotted leaves to prevent tho 

 fine soil from getting between the stones and choking 

 the drainage. The hole may be filled up with the fol- 

 lowing compo-st : — One-third ordinary garden soil, one- 

 third half-rotted cattle or stable manure (cattle manure 

 preferred for hot, sandy soils, and stable manure for 

 cold, daye/ soils), and the remaining third may be 

 formed of leaf-mculd, stiud, woodashes, lime, and the 

 sweepings of the poultry-} ard, in about equal portions. 

 "When the hole has only been taken out IM inches deep, 

 it will be necessary to raise the soil about ly inches 

 above grouurl ; ind^ ed iu every case, except iu ver.y 

 dry districts, it is b st to raise it. I'he whole fruit, 

 which is sent out in a gprn.inated state, must be plrmled 

 about 3 inches deep iu the centre of the hole. Tl be- 

 gins togro'.v at once, and iu a week or ten days it will 

 have made a good start. It is a creeper, and each p'ant 

 will require a spaeo of about 20 feet square." 



The cho-cho also does very well at reradcniya, but 

 the fruit does not there attain quite so large a size. I 

 think it will be less suitable for the lower elevations. 

 I consider it to be a very valuable iutrodiulion. ; nd a 

 real addition to the vegetables of Ceylon. I most 

 resemblis the vegetible marrow, but is, in my u.iiuiun, 

 superior iu tlavoui to the best varieties of th.al veget- 

 able. 



CvPHoM.VNUiiA Katacea. — The "Tree Tomato"*' has 

 become well-establislied in Hakgala (J.Trdcn, an 1 is now 

 bearing good crops of fruit. Mr. Nock says ;— 



" Some of the phints are now 11 feet hig ■, an 1 the 

 fruit-s produced are very fine. They are gg-.'-h pcd, 

 about 3 inches long and '2 inches in diamct r, a; d whuu 

 fully rijio are of a bright jellowi-h red c hmr. They 

 make exciUent tarts, are very good stew.-il, a d ar.; nm 'ii 

 relisheil by most people when rpiile ripe aii' oiteiraw, 

 like gooseberries. The plant is very rol us ;iP(i easy 

 to grow here, and I believe it will thri-. c, anl hi very 



* Not a very apt name. Neither in fo'iage, fl wcr. nor 

 form of the fiuit is there much reviniblanc to the 'J'c- 

 niato: in .all these respects the pant is no re.' to the 

 .Uinjal or egg-plant. 



